Re: DCC recommendation ?


> Stan,
>    Thanks for taking the time.  I did say you were a "stand up guy",
> and you've proven it again, thank you. Please don't take what I said
> as anything but an opinion based on
>out-of-date facts, and we all know what that's worth.   :-)

No problem. Thanks for the complement.

>  Geez, has it been that long?  LOL  So sweat, Stan, thanks for
> correcting me.  Times like this I'm glad you haven't fallen off the
>(railroad) map.

Yes NMRA DCC is now a teen and like all teens is rather dynamic.

>    But perhaps you, as an NMRA leader of some repute, can shed some
> knowledge on us as to why Digitrax (or any other of the major hobby
> manufacturers, not just in DCC, for that matter) don't submit models
> or products to get the C&I "football".  There's got to be some logical
> reason... (and we don't need specific details, just generalities if
>you get my drift...).

Former NMRA leader! I served my time and now it is time to pursue other interests like building my railroad. New blood is always critical to the success of an organization.

I asked the manufacturers is Seattle this very question and QSI provided perhaps the most straightforward answer. "There is no market need at present to do so." It costs money to design your products to conform. Its not the submission process that is costly. Its the design cost to build your products so that they can pass all the tests.

There are a wide variety of valid reasons for not submitting products and the reasons have changed over time. For example, if your products do not conform and you know it, why bother to submit the products? Most DCC manufacturers have the tools and run them during development. They then make a marketing decision as to if it is worth the trouble to fix the problem identified.

That is why we have interchange problems in DCC. In a perfect world all would work together to enhance the standards where necessary and build compatible products. In practice it is only when someone builds a component that impacts you that you spend the energy to get it fixed.

Model railroading has changed a great deal in the last few years. The DCC industry is in many ways like model railroad manufacturers in the past in that they design and build their own products. Most DCC manufacturers actually use the NMRA tools in their development and know what the problems are during the testing phase. Contrast that to the majority of locomotive and track manufacturers. Most of the design and development work is done in a plant in china and the US outfit is more of a marketing and distribution facility rather then a design facility. Here the US operations get a sample product very close to product release and often way to late to effect any design changes due to a C&I problem.

Ultimately the NMRA will need to evolve its process and design it more to aid the development process so the factories can use it in their development. Then they need to create a true market force to encourage the manufacturers to spend a little more time on ensuring interchange. We all benefit from this and we should all encourage all the manufacturers to work towards this goal. I complement those that have made the efforts to already achieve this.

Everyone benefits when products interchange with no problems.

Stan


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